The end of 2016 has brought balmy Arctic temperatures and record low ice extent for the time of year. It’s a freak event even by modern standards, and climate models point the finger firmly at humans.
Sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean during the winter peak in February 2015.
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Could polar bears slip into a hibernation-like state to tough out lean hunting during summers with little sea ice? Sadly, experiment suggests no.
Breaking the ice: while scientists increasingly understand why Antarctic sea ice is growing, it remains tricky to forecast.
Australian Antarctic Division
Arctic sea ice melts each summer, reaching its minimum extent sometime in September, before refreezing through the winter. Over the past 35 years, the September sea ice extent has reduced by about 35…
For several years now climatologists have puzzled over an apparent conundrum: why is Antarctic sea ice continuing to expand, albeit at the relatively slow rate of about one to two percent per decade, while…
Antarctica has actually been protected from sea ice melt by the ozone hole.
Vassil Tzvetanov
Many people think of sunburn and skin cancer when they hear about the ozone hole. But more ultraviolet (UV) radiation isn’t the only problem. The ozone hole has also led to dramatic changes in Southern…
In 2012 and 2013 parts of New Zealand suffered the worst drought in 70 years.
Dave Young/Flickr
Jim Salinger, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Over 2012 and 2013, parts of New Zealand experienced their worst drought in nearly 70 years. Drought is the costliest climate extreme in New Zealand; the 2012-2013 event depressed the country’s GDP by…
Sea ice on the Ross Sea - part of Antarctica where the ice is increasing.
Brian Stetson/Flickr
Antarctic winter sea ice has once again broken the record for maximum extent. On September 12, the coverage measured 19.619 million square kilometres, the highest since satellite records began. The ice…
Sea ice, coming to an Antarctic sea near you.
Brocken Inaglory
The amount of the earth’s ocean surface covered by sea ice has been continually observed by satellites and its extent estimated since 1978. The trend has been for shrinking sea ice in the Arctic and, more…
The Ross Sea: one of the places where sea ice extent is increasing.
Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons
This year could well see a new record set for the extent of Antarctic sea ice – hot on the heels of last year’s record, which in turn is part of a puzzling 33-year trend in increasing sea ice around Antarctica…
Clearing snow for a helicopter rescue makes for a dramatic photo, but let’s not forget the science.
EPA/Andrew Peacock/Footloosefotography/spritiofmawson.com
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and by now you might have seen dramatic images of passengers on stranded icebreaker Akademik Shokalskiy being rescued by helicopter last Friday…
Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong
Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder
Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder